SSG | About | Cooperatives

About | People | Cooperatives | Partners | Responsibility

SSG is incorporated federally as a worker's cooperative because the cooperative organizational structure clearly fits the goals and philosophy of our members. Cooperatives and credit unions differ from other businesses in three key ways:

A Different Purpose:

The primary purpose of co-operatives and credit unions is to meet the common needs of their members, whereas the primary purpose of most investor-owned businesses is to maximize profit for shareholders. The primary purpose of a worker's cooperative is to provide stable and meaningful work for its members.

A Different Control Structure:

Cooperatives and credit unions use the one member/one vote system, not the one vote per share system used by most businesses. This helps the co-operative or credit union serve the common need rather then the individual need and is a way to ensure that people, not capital control the organization. SSG is taking this one step further by using consensus decision-making for governance and operations of our co-operative.

A Different Allocation of Profit:

Co-operatives and credit unions share profits among their member-owners on the basis of how much they contribute to the co-op, not on how many shares they hold. Co-operatives and credit unions invest their profits in improving service to their members and improving the well-being of their communities. SSG is also committed to reinvesting a portion of our revenue back into the communities in which we live and work in order to support non-profit, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship.

The workers' cooperative is guided by the same seven principles as other cooperatives and credit unions around the world:

Voluntary and open membership
Democratic member control
Autonomy and independence
Education, training and information
Co-operation amongst cooperatives
Member economic participation
Concern for community

Collectively there are over 10,000 co-operatives and credit unions in Canada with combined assets totaling $189 billion. The cooperatives and credit unions provide products and services to over 10 million Canadians. The combined assets total $300 billion and provide employment for 155,000 Canadians.

[ Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation ]
[ Canadian Co-operative Association ]